Tag Archives: Grow Hoya plants

Despite the name of Royal Hawaiian Purple, this hoya did not originate from Hawaii. As a matter of fact, no hoyas are native to the Islands of Hawaii but to the regions near the Philippines, Thailand, Papa New Guinea etc. On a trip to Hawaii a few years ago, I only found one plant vendor who had any knowledge of a hoya plant.

The pubicalyx ‘Royal Hawaiian Purple’ is widely known for its pretty dark purple flowers and long dark green leaves with splotches of grey. This is a fast grower evident in the photos below. This particular plant was started with four or five cuttings less than one year ago. Basically, I started the cuttings and when they were rooted I just forgot about the plant except for weekly waterings. This no special needs hoya is a must it you do not have time to hover over your plants to be sure they are healthy and happy.

I grow many hoyas and this one is hands down the Best Blooming, Earliest Blooming, Easiest Growing, Longest Blooming! From a small rooted cutting which I obtained from Thailand earlier this season, there have been no problems with growing this Hoya Lockii. The plant itself is very beautiful and stands tall with a few branches, and more branches are sprouting from near the base. Watering is no chore and I have not noticed a preference as to how much it prefers. The leaves are unblemished and pleasantly spotted with ruffles on the edges.

Just looking at the plant from a normal view point is not the surprise, just pick up the pot and hold it overhead to see the amazing beauty from below! The leaves are veined nicely and the many peduncles show the many stages of blooming! I cannot begin to capture the beauty but I am going to try my best to show you what I find stunning about Hoya lockii. It is a BLOOMING MACHINE!

No matter how many times I see hoya seeds that have recently exploded from a seed pod I get excited and hopeful to grow them out. This time is a little different since Hoya papaschonii has had multiple seed pods develop but all but this one fell off prior to ripening. I did pass by this hoya yesterday and noticed that the pod had turned yellow and immediately assumed the pod was about to abort as the prior seed pods had done. As I was manicuring other hoyas in the area this day, I now saw a number of fuzzy beings and know what had happened. I carefully moved the pot to my potting bench so I would not forget to make small pots, label them and tuck the many seeds into the mix. As always, now I hope for the best and hope the seeds germinate and mature. The majority of my experiences have not ended well but if you are like me…I must grow! There is a lot of trial and error growing hoyas from seed. The only success story to date is a couple of seedlings from Hoya erythrostemma IML 1428. The seeds ripened in 2012 and as you see the plant is healthy and happy and looks very much like its mother.

As you can see from the photos below, the seedlings of Hoya erythrostemma very much resemble the mother plant so it is quite possible this hoya was self pollinated. The only way to be sure is to have the blooming plant in isolation while in bloom or actually perform the pollination yourself. Manual pollination is a very difficult process and one I know little about. One last note…If you decide to trade or sell from a Seedling…please be sure it is properly labeled as such!!!